How To Mend a Broken Heart
by forgedinparchment
Summary: Lees heart has been broken by a final no from the girl he loved for years, and to rub salt in the wound he is being sent away as the representative for Konoha to the Sand Village, and as the taijutsu specialist that will be training their new Kazekage.


"Lee, you need to take some time off duty around here." Tsunade shuffled about a stack of papers mindlessly, avoiding looking at his downtrodden expression. "Since the confrontation with one of our medic nins, you've been half assing your work." She set the papers aside, and grabbed a manilla folder sticking out from the middle of a tall stack, almost toppling it in the process. She flipped it open and began scanning the pages. "We can ill afford for one of out top field nins to be moping around while on duty."

Lee, whos face for the last minute had been fierce in its attempt to stay neutral through the scolding, blinked and tried not to cry at the insults in retort. He raised his hand to his forehead in salute, his body rigid as a board. "I'm sorry Hokage-Sama!" He held his fist from saluting in front of him, raised as if vowing to the gods themselves. "I promise from this day forth to no longer slack-off on nor off duty! I will the best I can be! No- better! I promise to–"

Tsunade held up her hand and Lee stopped short; though it was not so much to halt his words, but as a signal to Shizune. The hush, distressed woman walked seemingly out of nowhere from behind the green clad nin and placed a sake cup onto the desk in front of the village leader, quickly filling it to the brim with steaming sake, much like a geisha. She set a second one down by the end toward Lee and filled it too, but he left it unnoted.

Tsunade quickly tossed the folder like a frisbee at the disheartened man before her and reached for the small white cup. "You're being re-assigned."

The ninja, who hardly caught the folder without it spilling its contents about her already messy floor, gaped at her with disbelief. "I-I'm... b-but Hokage-Sama!"

The blonde slammed down the small cup, and Shizune quickly refilled it with more. "Your only a burden to any assignment I place you on, you're not helping the village by worrying around here." She quickly tore the cup from the stream of filling sake, causing the lithe woman behind her to gasp. "You need some time away from this place!" She slowly brought the cup up to her lips and spoke around the rim. "You need time away from Sakura.

The name visibly stung the man deeply; that wound was to fresh. It was well known of his love for the pink haired kunoichi and her feeling of 'just friendship', but just weeks ago, he had declared love to her in mid afternoon traffic around the barracks His eyes fell downward in defeat, at the memory and the merit of her words, to the bent folder in his possession. He flipped it open to the sound of the cup crashing down on the wooden desk. After the sound of liquid being poured stopped, Rock Lee glanced up in astonishment.

"The Sand Village?!" He gulped as he watched her wolf down her third cup, his mouth now felt unexplainably dry. "B-but I don't believe I deserve to be ostracized... do I?"

She slammed down her cup and wiped the dribble from her chin with a happy sigh. "Nothing like the third cup." She shoved the porcelain away toward her secretary, and began opening drawers in her desk searching around. "You're being re-assigned as our representative in the Sand Village regarding corroborated missions, taking students to the chunin exams, and general affairs between our two villages." Tsunade stated rather boredly. She pulled a pen and paper out of the bottom of her desk and began writing, ignoring the nins perfect impersonation of a gapping fish "Along with that, you will be the new taijutsu specialist of the Village Hidden in the Sands." Dropping the pen the Hokage slid the small piece of paper to the traumatized man. She grabbed his cup and raised it to her own lips. "Congratulations."

• ● •

"Congratulations." The young woman pulled away from him as he moved the blade from pointing into her back into its pouch. "You've passed all the training I could give, Kazekage-Sama." The woman, clad head to toe in brown linens, smiled seductively at him, but he gave no sign she caught his attention. She sighed, and reached into her cloak and retrieved a small, dull object. "As having completed the training by one of the Teachers of the Edifice, I proudly gift to you, Gaara of the Sands, with the status of Assassin Nin." She held out a small, black dagger, hilt wrapped in a small carved serpent towards his person. "This is proof of your training, with it if you're ever to seek aid within the Scoured Sands, you will always be welcome." She bowed before him as he took the dagger, inspecting the craftsmanship and feeling the balance in his own hands.

"Thank you, Master Kula." He bowed his head as she raised herself back up to shake her own head.

"Our training is complete, near 2 years of hard work proves you my equal this eve." She wrapped a brown scarf over her neck and around her mouth, a testament to the onset of a cool night. Before even a bird stirred amidst the tall ruins, both the head of Kula and Gaara turned sharply to the left. The waited only a moment before a man quickly appeared out of the dark..

He huffed around savored breaths, "K-Kazekage-Sama..." He bowed at him then turned a quick bow to the woman beside him. "Master Kula." He directed himself back to the red haired teen. "I've been all up and down these ruined hills searching for you since sundown."

Gaara eyed the man, recognizing him as one of the nins who ran the more important missions for him, and also as his brother. "I was just finishing my training, sorry to worry you Kankuro." His words, though stoic, were not spoken down to the nin.

The Kazekages brother, relaxed his shoulders and allowed the ever present smile to adorn his lips. He shrugged."It's fine, just tell someone when and where you run off to." He eyed the black haired woman beside his brother, his words holding deeper meaning. "We received word by carrier bird this afternoon, The Village Hidden in the Leafs has chosen the nin to be their representative in our village." He began fishing around in his pockets, fishing out a small piece of paper and handing it to his younger sibling.

Gaara began walking back toward the outline of the village against the rising moon, Kula and Kankuro following close behind as he scanned over the words. He stopped short, his group almost slamming into his back at the sudden halt. If Gaara had eyebrows, they'd be raised in shock. He turned towards his brother. "Rock Lee. Isn't he the one-..." He looked down, re-reading the paper again. Kula tried to pear over his shoulder, wondering what had startled the normally numb man.

"Yes, the one you fought during the chunin exams, the weird guy with the bushy eyebrows and green jump suit. He apparently survived those injuries and is a full time nin." He cocked his head sideways. "Though I wonder why he's being assigned to us, you'd think this would be the last place he'd wanna be." Kankuro, though mindful of his brothers shame at having near permanently damaged the young genin those years ago, knew it was best to just talk about these things then try to hide them. It only made things worse for the emotionally unstable man before him.

Gaara shoved the paper into his sleeve and continued onward toward the village, his entourage again in tow. "Send message back tomorrow morning that I accept him for the job. Have him sent out within the week. See that a jonin from their village escort him, we have to many men out on the field right now to send one for him."

The following silence was short lived as they reached the high walls surrounding the village. As the guard outside signaled for the door to be open, Kula stepped up beside her old pupil and bowed low. "Lord Kazekage, I shall be off now to return home."

He nodded, and she was gone without so much as disturbing the sand at her feet. Kankuro walked up beside him as they waited for the slow gate to open.

"Also, they have the taijutsu specialist picked out to train you next." He smiled as he and his younger brother began walking through the gates, his eyes flashing with intrigue.

"Who is it?" Pale green eyes kept forward, tired from the days training. His mind already preoccupied with the thought of the cheerful nin coming to take residence in the village. His guilt, nevertheless having heard he had survived the damage, played at his mind. It would be awkward having to see the man occasionally working around the place. He would have to try and avoid him if possible.

Kankuros smile grew. "Your taijutsu specialist and new Master will also be Rock Lee."


End file.
